1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to article inspection systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to article inspection systems having an operator console with improved operator interaction capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Article inspection systems are used as security devices in airports, office buildings and the like to allow security personnel to inspect the contents of an article, e.g., baggage, for explosives, weapons or other contraband.
Early types of inspection systems were capable of detecting metal objects located in an article. More recently, automated x-ray based inspection systems have been developed that use single energy x-rays and dual energy x-rays to present an operator (e.g. security personnel) with an image of the objects within an article. Single energy x-rays typically present an image of the objects with shading representing varying degrees of mass density (i.e., opaqueness to x-rays). Dual energy x-rays, on the other hand, typically present an image with color proportional to the ratio of one energy band to the other on a pixel by pixel basis.
Such x-ray inspection systems incorporate a single or dual x-ray source, a scanning system, such as a conveyor, to move the article through an x-ray beam (e.g., a fan beam x-ray) to scan the article, a detector system that converts the x-ray flux which penetrates the article being inspected into pixels of values which represent the x-ray images(s) resulting from the scan, a processor, e.g., a computer or an array of processing elements used to control the operation of the x-ray source data and process the data, the scanning system and the detector system, and an operator interface (or operator console) that includes a display system that presents a black and white or color display of the resulting image of pixel values, and a operator input system that permits an operator to select various operational modes and to select various image enhancements of the inspection system.
An example of a currently used operator console has a display monitor that displays gray-scale images of the article, e.g., baggage, along with suspect area and target object overlays and other enhancements. The operator input system provides an operator with control over the display system using for example a zoom pad and touch pad icons.
However, in such operator consoles, both operator application data (e.g., the displayed image) and controls are not within the operator's same viewing field or arc, causing the operator to direct attention away from the display and toward the controls. This reduces the efficiency of the inspection process because of, for example, operator fatigue and/or time delays in completing the inspection process.
Another drawback of such operator consoles is that the touch pad icons are fixed and cannot be changed unless the pad itself is changed. As a result, various types of touch pads with different icons would have to be manufactured in order to provide different capabilities for the different environments where the inspection system may be used. In other words, current operator consoles cannot be operator and/or location customized without specific hardware changes. This also decreases the efficiency of the inspection process.